{"id":413,"date":"2016-04-20T07:09:21","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T07:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lifeatthemovies\/?p=413"},"modified":"2016-11-22T08:39:20","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T08:39:20","slug":"the-hunger-games-concludes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lifeatthemovies\/2016\/04\/the-hunger-games-concludes.html","title":{"rendered":"The Hunger Games concludes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mockingjay Part 2 (2015, USA), the final episode of The Hunger Games, is now available for home viewing.<\/p>\n

I think we were expecting more.\u00a0It continues in the vein of the previous film, Mockingjay Part 1, in the same linear fashion, without finishing the series on a high.<\/p>\n

However, it rounded off the story cohesively and satisfactory, in more of a literary way.<\/p>\n

The box office North American take was way down on the previous films in the series so I guess that word of mouth was not so good, but it may fare better on home viewing.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a>
Image sourced via google images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It could have been a visceral action thriller if they focused on heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) on a personal vendetta against President Snow (Donald Sutherland).\u00a0This would have tested her resolve to be a kind person who does not believe in killing others, but values life.\u00a0However, her relationship with Snow is sore. Snow is a rotten dictator who has manipulated the love of Katniss\u2019 life, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson).<\/p>\n

All very complex.<\/p>\n

It goes in a low-key, story-centric direction instead, with less action and only moments of action that tend to go on for too long.\u00a0Though I appreciated how it rounded off the themes from the previous films.<\/p>\n

In all entertainment\u2014even the so-called art house or low-budget (but necessarily worse-off cinema) cinema\u2014there is a hook to keep us watching. In The Hunger Games sequels, the hook is found in the story more than the action.\u00a0The Hunger Games sequels are telling a story to hook us in more than delivering on the entertainment value. If that is hook enough for you.<\/p>\n

In the previous films, questions were asked about the nature of reality and fiction, but in this film, reality is indeed real, as rebels face off a futuristic North American totalitarian government.<\/p>\n

In this, the last of The Hunger Games series, the hunger ‘games’ are stripped of pretensions and appearances and we are exposed to reality itself. \u00a0How would you feel?<\/p>\n

Come to think about the the difference between reality and fiction, we could give something a second thought. Self-awareness may not go asunder.<\/p>\n

For commentaries and reviews of the previous three Hunger Games films please visit here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mockingjay Part 2 (2015, USA), the final episode of The Hunger Games, is now available for home viewing. I think we were expecting more.\u00a0It continues in the vein of the previous film, Mockingjay Part 1, in the same linear fashion, without finishing the series on a high. However, it rounded off the story cohesively and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":602,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,32,322],"tags":[6,15,26,8,10,9,54,45,40,16,7,24,25],"class_list":["post-413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-action-movies","category-dramas","category-justice-fairness","tag-action-movies","tag-adventure","tag-change","tag-film","tag-film-commentaries","tag-film-reviews","tag-freedom","tag-good-versus-evil","tag-justice","tag-life","tag-movies","tag-problems","tag-survival-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Hunger Games concludes - Life at the Movies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Hunger Games sequels are telling a story to hook us in more than delivering on the entertainment value. 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